Nation World

DNA tests show bigfoot hair samples from bears, wolves, raccoons

Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes holds a DNA sample taken from the hair of a Himalayan animal. (Channel 4 Television)

LONDON — DNA testing is taking a bite out of the Bigfoot legend.

After scientists analyzed more than 30 hair samples reportedly left behind by Bigfoot and similar mythical beasts such as the Himalayan Yeti, they found all of them came from more mundane creatures, including bears, wolves, cows and raccoons.

In 2012, researchers at Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology issued an open call asking museums, scientists and Bigfoot aficionados to share any samples they thought were from the legendary apelike creatures.

"I thought there was about a 5 percent chance of finding a sample from a Neanderthal or (a Yeti)," said Bryan Sykes of Oxford University, who led the research, the first peer-reviewed study of Bigfoot, Yeti and other "anomalous primates." The study was published online Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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